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Federal District Court Justice Amy Totenberg today issued a ruling requiring the Georgia Secretary of State and local elections officials to ensure that polling places use paper backups of electronic poll books in the event of electronic pollbook failure. "Judge Totenberg’s order is a victory for voters and for the integrity of our elections. Common Cause Georgia has been working to improve our elections infrastructure for years...."

The people of Georgia deserve some answers. Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission  (Ethics Commission) Chair Jake Evans said the commission will investigate and staff or board members who have “credible allegations of wrongdoing against them” -- but has not committed yet to investigating Commissioner Rick Thompson’s connections to Blue Sky Medical Labs, LLC, or Thompson’s and his business partner’s connection to a fake donor sting in North Carolina.

Georgia’s Secretary of State has added language to his website, clarifying that “outstanding monetary obligations other than fines, such as unpaid restitution, fees, costs, or surcharges” are not a barrier to voting, for people who have been convicted of a felony.

"Voters deserve to be able to have confidence in our elections systems. Even in the middle of a pandemic – perhaps especially in the middle of a pandemic – voters should be able to rely on the systems that select our elected officials."

“Here in Clarkston we have people who come from diverse backgrounds and we already have enough challenges in getting everyone counted including language barriers – and we don't want another unconstitutional hindrance from counting every single resident of our City,” Clarkston Councilman Awet Eyasu said.

Today’s anniversary comes during a time when our nation is, once again, grappling with its long history of treating people differently based on the color of their skin.